


m^' 



b 



REPORT 



r 



OF THE 




APPOINTED AT A Mi.ETING OF THE 



Citizensof Brownsville, Tex., April 17, 1875. 



-m 



COMMITTEE: 



J. L. Haynes, 
John S. Ford, 
William Neale, 
G. M. Raphael, 
F. J. Parker, 
Wm. Kelly, 
A. Glavecke, 
M. TreviSo Garza, 



Edward Downey, 
J. Gal van, 

J. L. PUTEGNAT, 

R. B. Kingsbury, 
H. S. Rock, 
J. G. Browne, 
F. Yturria, 
George Willman. 



Brownsville, Tkx. : 
Jon S. Mansur, Printer 

1875. 



./ 



REPORT 



Ijf- OP THK 



PERMANENT COMMITTEE, 

APPOINTED AT A MEETING OF THK 

Citizens of Brownsville, Texas, April 17, 1875. 



PEEHMINAKY REMAEKS. 

The Permanent Committee, to which was referred the matter of the 
recent misrepresentations made by Senor Mariscal, the Minister of 
the Republic of Mexico at Washington, in regard to the Rio Grande 
Frontier, whose correspondence on the subject we attribute to incor- 
rect information of our true condition on his part, beg leave to report, 
that, in order that our C4overnmeut may be correctly informed on the 
subject, it will be necessary to present a brief review of the history of 
this frontier from the adoption of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo 
and the final settlement of the Rio Grande as the coterminous boundary 
between the United States and Mexico, and to give an account of all 
known causes of complaint that have arisen between the people 
inhabiting the opposite banks of the Rio Grande, which duty we shall 
endeavor to perform fairly, correctly, and without prejudice. 

In this investigation your Committee has confined itself to the 
tefritory embraced in the counties of Cameron, Duval, Eucinal, 
IIida,ig:), Starr, Webb and Zapaia, tht'se limits being nei^rly 40.000 
square miles in extent, with a population, according to the census of 
1870, of 27,128 inhabitants, equal in area but not in population to 
the great State of Ohio, It would involve too much delay and 
expense to extend our enquiries beyond this section, and a more 
extended investigation is rendered partially unnecessary from the 
fact that the principal causes of complaint existing have originated 
within the boundaries specified and the Mexican territory adjacent on 
the right bank of the Rio Grande. 

FILLIEUSTERING. 

We shall begin this review with the first known cause of complaint 
on the part of the Mexicans against the people of this side of the Rio 
Grande, which is that we have given encouragement to fillibuster 
expeditious against Mexico. The Mexicans go beyond this and back 
to the Texas revolution of 1336, but we do not propose to call ia 
question the acts of the General Government of the United States by 
noticing such complaints, and therefore state the charge of fiilibus- 
tering as the first known cause of ofi'ense. This charge originated ia 
A 



1 



1860-1 (iuriug the revolution in that country, headed by 

M. J. Carvajal, and generally known as the revolution of* El 

la Lola, and they always cite this case, it being, in fact, the Ox 

revolution or rebellion in that country that received such aid froj 

the United States. To understand to V'i\\z,t extent this oomp)ain!/ 

founded in justice, a brief review of the causes and final issue ot thv 

revolution of ia Loha will be necessary, "■ 

This revolution grew out of the oppressive character of the tariff 
laws enacted by Mexico shortly after the close of our contest with 
that Republic in 1846-8. By the provisions of the Treaty of 
Guadalupe Hidalgo, all merchandise that had been introduced into 
Mexico during the war and our occupation of the country was esempt 
from the imposition of any tax or duty, these introductions being 
known as existencias. Large quantities of American manufactures 
had been introduced into the country, and the people had become 
familiar with our fabricn and preferred them to the flimsier manufac- 
tures of Europe which, until that period, had held the monopoly of 
the Mexican market on account of the prohibitions against our 
coarser fabrics. In 1849 the existencias were declared to have been 
consumed, and the old prohibitory system was revived which practi- 
cally excluded our manufactures from that market. This was an act 
of hostile legislation against our country, and at the same time ifc 
paralyzed the commerce and carrying trade of all Northern Mexico, 
which obtained its supplies through our Kio Grande ports, and the 
act created intense opposition throughout all Northern Mexico. This 
opposition finally assumed the form of revolution — the chronic mode 
in that country of remedying all evils of government, real or imagi- 
nary. The revolutionists met at La Loha and put forth their Plan^ 
which contained nearly all the liberal principles that have since been 
adopted by Liexico and engrafted on her constitutional law. 

The chiefs of this revolution invited the co-operation of the Ameri- 
cans of this frontier, and a batallion of American volunteers, number- 
ing less than three hundred men, was enlisted into their service in 
this revolutionary army. We do not propose to follow the fortunes 
of this army, and shall only allude to the capture of Reynosa and the 
levy of a forced loan upon that village by the revolutionary forceSj 
that event being the chief cause of complaint. This mode of obtain-? 
ing funds during periods of revolution in Mexico is the well known 
and universal rule, and these forced loans form the prolific source of 
the bulk of the claims against Mexico preferred by the citizens of all 
countries, including our own. The expedition against Reynoaa was 
organized on this side of the Rio Grande, but it was composed exclu- 
sively of the revolutionary forces that had been defeated in Mexico 
and had sought refuge here, and it acted under specific orders from, 
Carvajal, the revolutionary chief. These facta have been proyen 
beyond question, and the proofs exist in the testimony now before the 
Mixed Commission in the case of the claim of the citizens of Reynosa, 
to which the attention of our Government is cited. And it was 



proven that the parties upon whom the forced loan in question 
imposed were originators with Carvajal of the revolution of 

' Loba. 

^J'he Federal officers and Courts of the United States on this fron- 
tier were not uncnindful or neglectful of their duties on the occasion. 
Caryaial and several ot bis chief officei?, including the commander of 
the Reynosa expedition, were indicted, arrested and tried for their 
violation of our laws of neutrality, but the prosecution failed to 
convict because the Mexican authorities failed to furnish the necessary 
witnesses and our Government was unable to procure their attendance. 
But the vigor of the prosecution had the effect of putting an end to 
the revolution completely, and no similar expedition has ever since 
been organized on this frontier. 

That the forces engaged in the revolution of La Loha, either Mexi- 
cans or Americans, committed no offense against the rules and laws 
of war as recognized by themselves, and that the revolution and forced 
loan upon Reynosa were regarded as the normal mode of procedure 
in that country, is abundantly proven by the fact that the Mexican 
'jrovernment granted free pardon and amnesty to all those engaged in 
the affair, including the chief, Carvajal, who was not long after living 
peacefully at his home in Camargo. And it is further proven by the 
act of the Government of Mexico during the French invasion, when 
General J. M. J. Carvajal was made a General of Division. He wag 
also entrusted by the administration of President Juares with the 
most important and delicate mission assigned to any Mexican citizen 
of that country during its struggle with the French. His mission 
was a confidential one, to proceed to the United States with full 
powers to purchase arms, munitions of v/ar, war vessels, and to issue 
the bonds of his country to the extent of thirty millions — entrusted 
with the credit as well as the honor of his country. And it was to 
the arms, munitions and war vessels sent by him to Mexico that his 
country was largely indebted for the success of its struggle for inde- 
pendence and liberty. By these acts his offenses, if any, as well as 
those of his followers, including his American fiUibusters, were fully 
condoned, and they cannot now be justly brought in judgment against 
them. For the proofs of these facts we respectfully refer to the Dip- 
lomatic Correspondence of our Departments of State for the year — ■■ — 

JUSTICE OF TEXAS LEGISLATION. 

The revolution of La Loha, although crushed out by the vigor of 
our Government, had the effect of forcing the Mexican Government 
to adopt a more liberal tariff policy, upon the occurrence of which 
trade and commerce were revived on this frontier, and from 1852 to 
1859, peace reigned along the Rio Grande, and, with this period of 
peace, the country between the Rio Grande and the Nueces, which 
previous to that time was almost uninhabited, was settled with stock 
raisers, their, herds and flocks increasing with amazing rapidity, 



adding millions to the wealth and resources of the State. This'jlfrd 
perity^was largely diie to the justice of the legislation of the State istr 
Texas. The country between the Nueces and Rio Grande formerl^h*. 
belonged to the State of Tamaulipas whilst it was under MexicaC 
jurisdiction. The tenacity with which thei Mexican Government 
cluuf' to the Nueces as the boundary line, in the discussions preced- 
ing the formation of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, ori^ated 
from the fear that the State of Texas would, under the articles of 
annexation to tbeUnited States by which the State retained its public 
domain, refuse to recognize the titles to land that had been previously 
crranted to Mexican citizens under the Colonization Laws of the State 
of Tamaulipas. But this fear was groundless. The State of Texas 
sent Boards of Land Commissioners to this section of the State, and 
the titles granted under the Laws of Tamaulipas were confirmed. 
Under the various acts of the Legislature in 1850, 1852, 1860 and 
1872j the most liberal provisions were enacted for this purpose, and 
the titles to thousands of leagues of land were recognized as valid. 
These lands, under the former Government, were valued at the current 
rate of fifty dollars per league of 4428 acres. Now they have in- 
creased fifty and a hundred fold in value, and the owners have become 
enriched by the justice of our laws. For the proofs of these facts we 
cite the laws in question : — Paschal's Annotated Digest of the Laws; 
of Texas, Articles 4440, 4456, 4461, 4469 and 4481, pages 732-739 
Vol. 1, and Article 7068 p 1447 Vol. 2. 

THE COETINA KAID— 1859. 

But this period of peace and prosperity was destined, in the year 
1859, to come to a close in consequence of an insurrection in Cameron 
and the adjacent counties, generally known as "the Cortina Raid." 
"We now proceed to give a brief history of this affair, which is taken 
almost literally from official documents, such as the messages of Gov- 
ernor Houston, the reports of the Commissioners Taylor and Navarro, 
sent here by Gov. Houston to investigate its origin, the official 
reports of Major S. P. Heintzleman, U. S. Army, Hon. Stephen Pow- 
ers, Mayor of Brownsville, and a mass of other testimony presented 
to Congress at that time, and to be found in Executive Documents 
Nob. 52 and 81, 1st Session XXXVIth Congress, printed by order of 
the House of Representatives, to which documents we refer by their 
respective numbers. 

By General Orders No. 1, dated Headquarters, Department of 
Texas, February 5th 1859, General Twiggs, then Commanding the 
Department, ordered that the posts of Fort Brown CBrownsville), 
Einggold Barracks (Rio Grande City), Fort Mcintosh (Laredo), aa 
well as Forts Mason and McKavitt, higher up the frontier, should 
be abandoned, and the troops thereat removed hundreds of milea 
distant [Doc. No. 52 p 7]. The whole frontier between the Rio 
Grande and the Nueces was stript, in accordance with this order, of 



all protection eud left exposed to the lawless and turbulent who 
always seek the frontiers for impunity and for opportunities to plun- 
der that are not afforded in better regulated societies. The people in 
public meetings and their representatives in the Legislature protested 
in vain against this suicidal order [Doc. No. 52 pages 12 and 24], 
Their worst fears and predictions were soon realized. 

Oh the 28th of September 1859, Juan N. Cortina, a bold and tur- 
bulent man, i^ho was under indictment in Cameron county for mur- 
der, at the head of an armed body of Mexicans numbering about 
one hundred, entered the City of Brownsville about 3 o'clock in the 
morning, while the whole population was yet asleep, and immediately 
awakened from their slumber several innocent citizens and in the most 
brutal manner began to shoot them down, and, in several instances, 
to niutilate their persons. The band went to the county jail, mur- 
dered the jailer and released all the prisoners, some of whom were 
confined for murder and other felonies. And it was not until seyeral 
of the most influential citizens of the neighboring City of Matamorof? 
came across the river and interceded with Cortina that he was in- 
duced to withdraw from the city, which he finally did, however, birt 
proceeded with his banditti to his ranch, about six miles distant, 
■where he remained encamped, breathing vengeance against all 
Americans [Doc, 52 p 20 et seq']. Here his forces gradually increased 
until they numbered four or five hundred men — all Mexicans [Doc. 
52, Report of Comssr. Navarro p 121. In October he defeated a body 
of State troops sent to the frontier by the Governor, which greatly 
elated his followers and increased bis forces [Idem]. He issued two 
pronunciavientos after the most approved style of his mother country, 
claiming to bs under the Divine protection of Sovereign Majesty 
[Doc. 52 pages 70 and 79], The people of Brownsville were reduced 
to the bhame and extremity, in their abandoned condition, of seeking 
protection from a foreign government, and a body of troops crossed 
from Matamoros under the immediate command of General Carvajal, 
the chief of the revolution of La Loha, for their protection [Doc. 52 
p 22]. This whole section was a scene of confusion and violence, the 
bandits of Cortina dominating all the surrounding country for months, 
stopping and opening the mails, making prisoners of travelers, and 
keeping Brownsville in a state of siege, his forces daily increasing in 
numbers [Doc. 52 p 74]. The whole frontier waa laid waste, every 
ranch owned by Americans being burned and destroyed [Doc. 52, 
Reports of Major Meintzleman pages 98 and 106]. At length a 
force of United States troops arrived near the scene of the conflict 
under command of Major S. P. Heintzleman, which, with the State 
troops organized and placed under command of Major Ford, soon 
drove the bandit chief up the Rio Grande to Rio Grand City, where 
he was overtaken and completely routed and driven across the Rio 
Grande, for the particulars of which reference is made to the reports 
of Major Heintzleman already quoted, and his fuller report in Doc. 
^1 P 2 ^* 5e£. 



\ 



During the whole period of his raid, Cortina visited Matamoroa at 
Lis will, recruited his ranks frora Mexico, and no one disturbed him 
or made him afraid, but, on the contrar}', the common people gave 
him their sympathy if not their active support [Doc. 52, Repoit of 
Mayor Powers to the President p 34]. And after he was driven from 
this side of the Rio Grande, he still preserved the organization of his 
brigands in Mexico [Doc. 52 p 107 and Doc. 81 pages 11 and 87, etc]., 
and for the next two years he kept this frontier in constant ferment. 
And until the present hour, the predatory incursions of his banditti, 
then organized, have been continuous' and unceasing, except for the 
period of our civil war. His organization was a secret one, and we 
give it in his own words [Doc. 52 p 82] in which he describes the 
organization as follows : — 

" First. A society is organized in the State of Texas which devotes 
itself sleeplessly until the work is crowned with success to the im- 
provement of the unhappy condition of those Mexicans resident 
therein ; exlervmiating their tyrants, to loMch eyicl those loho compose it 
are ready to shed their blood and suffer the death of martyrs. 

Second. As this society contains within itself the elements 
necessary to accomplish the great end of its labors, the veil of zmpene- 
trable secrecy covers The Great Booh in ivhich the articles of its consiitu- 
Hon are ivritten ; whilst so delicate are the difficulties which must be 
overcome that no honorable man can have cause for alarm, if imperi- 
ous exigencies require them to act ivithout reserve." 

Events have proven the power and the permanence of this nefarious 
society of felons. There was a cessation of active operations on its 
part during the civil war for the reason that the Confederacy kept so 
larize a military force on this frontier for the protection of its trade 
through Mexico, and there was such continuous passing to and fro 
over the country of trains and troops as rendered the hazard too 
great ; and, in addition, the traffic in cotton that sprang up between 
Mexico and the Confederacy was so lucrative to merchants and 
freighters in Mexico, and gave such profitable employment to the 
idle that all classes were for the time being interested in preserving 
the peace. 

CORTINA BECOMES GOVERNOR AND GENERAL. 

The unexpected .boldness displayed hy Cortina in his raid upoQ 
Brownsville, his coolness and courage and the capacity developed in 
him to command the lawless brigands that had gathered to his 
standard, soon made him one of the most feared, powerful and influ- 
ential leaders on the Mexican frontier, and in a very short period he 
rose to the position of GoFernor of the neighboring Mexican State of 
Tamaulipas and to the grade of Brigadier General in the Mexican 
army, notwithstanding the fact that he is a man of no education, not 
being able to read, and, until very recently, unable to sign his name, 
a feat that he has finally accomplished only by the most painful 



application [Doc. 31, Report of Major Ileintzleman, p 6]. At the 
present time he is the President of the Ayuniamiento of the neighbor- 
ing City of Matamoros, the metropolia of this frontier, and the 
subordinate offices of the city are filled with his followers and crea- 
tures, the Fame being true as to the offices of all the froEtier Mexican 
cities on the Eio Grande ; and he is now a candidate for Governor of 
Tamaulipas with the certainty of being elected or of seizing upon the 
office by force in the event of defeat. His control over the Mexican 
trontier is absolute. 

At the close of our war, which ended the lucratiye cotton trade, 
upon which the Mexican frontier towns had grovvn rich, and with the 
withdrawal of the French troops from Mexico, large bodies of mesi 
who had been freighting cotton or fighting the French were turned 
loose, and from this material Governor and General Cortina has 
surrounded himself with a band of followers devoted to his personal 
interest and ambition ; and we charge that this band of desperadoes 
and adventurers, since the close of our war, has been eupported and 
maintained at the cost of the stock raisers between the Nueces and 
the Rio Grande. 

To support this charge we present the Report of the United States 
Commissioners to Texas, appointed under the act of Congress, ap- 
proved May 7th 1872, now on file in the Department of State at 
Washington. On page 31 of this report, citations of the testimony 
taken before the Coramieeioners prove conclusively the direct and 
personal connection of General Cortina with the bands of organizied 
cattle thieves that have for years devastated this section of the State 
of Texas. We also cite other testimony presented to the Commis- 
sioners as cumulative to the direct evidence above referred to. It; 
was proven by a cloud of witnesses, inoludiupr many Mexicans as well 
as Americans, that there had been stolen anudriv-fca from thU section 
of the State to Mexico over seven hundred thousand head of cattle 
and over fifteen thousand head of horses. Such vast operations prove 
thorough organization. It was proven that Cortina's stock ranches in 
Mexico were worth at least half a million of dollars, and that they 
were covered with stock bearing American brands. It was proven 
by the owners of these brands that they had never sold stock to the 
Mexican market and that such of their stock as had been driven to 
that market was stolen from them. Antonio Tijerina, a relative of 
Cortina, testified "that Cortina had enriched himself by his position," 
when but a few years ago he was an outlaw, poor and a fugitive from 
justice. We cite also a mass of testimony to the same effect now on 
file before the Mixed Commission in the many claims for damages 
against Mexico arising from the acts of General Cortina on this 
frontier. 

We have not thought it proper or necessary to seek new testimony 
on the foregoing points, but present that already laid before the 
country from official sources of the highest respectability, or existing 
on file in the Departments and the Mixed Commission at Washington. 



\ 



The witnesses whose evidence is presented in these official reports are 
numbered by the hundreds, they are men of good repute, and if any 
credence is to be given to human testimony, the array of facts pre- 
sented in these official records must be regarded as proven beyond 
the possibility of doubt. 

We have given the details of the Conina Raid of 1859, and his 
connection with succeeding events, for the reason that to the Secret 
Society of Felons then organized we trace the continuous cause of 
all the troubles on this frontier, and these will continue to harass 
our people and disturb the public peace until the Government of the 
United States takes prompt and efficient measures for its suppression, 

NEW OUTRAGES. 

But, since the report of the Commissioners to Texas was made to 
the Secretary of State and laid before Congress, new and startling 
outrages have been perpetrated, which we now proceed to notice. 
These new outrages sustain all the facts set forth in the foregoing 
portion of our report, and present new evidence of the thorough 
organization of the banditti operating from Mexico against this 
section of our country, and of the determination of the Secret Society 
organized by Cortina in 1859 "to exterminate their tyrants." It will 
be seen that this fixed resolve is being carried out with relentless 
ferocity. We only present for consideration that class of outrages 
that show combination and organization on the part of the perpetra- 
tors, originating and proceeding from Mexican territory, leaving out 
of view entirely those outrages or crimes to which every society is 
subject, many of which might be traced to the same source with those 
that we shall notice, 

I. During the months of March and April 1873, Alberto 
Garza, a notorious outlaw from Guerrero, Mexico, with a party of 
cattle thiBves, crossed to this side of the Rio Grande and located 
himself near Piedras Pintas in Duval County, in the neighborhood of 
which there are dense thickets, affording means of concealment, where 
he engaged regularly and systematically in killing and skinning 
cattle. On the 19th of April he offered two hundred hides for sale 
at Piedras Pintas that had just been taken from the cattle on the 
range. And it was not until the owners of the cattle collected in 
force that he retreated to Mexico. 

II. On the 8lh day of June 1873, the U. S. Custom House or 
Deputy Collector's office, at Carrizo, in Zapata County, was robbed 
by a party of Mexicans. 

III. On the 6th of July 1873, Dr. J. C. Crocker was murdered 
and robbed, by an organized band of Mexicans, about fifteen miles 
west of Capt. King's ranch in Nueces county. 

IV. On the 7th of November 1873, the store of R. Schubert, a 
merchant at Concepcion, in Duval county, was entered by a party of 
twenty or thirty armed Mexicans, who overpowered Schubert aud his 
clerks and gutted his store, taking between $2500 and §3000 in 



V\ 9 

money, besides arms, goods, &c., with which they re-crossed into 
Mexico at the ranch of Las Cuevas in the lower edge of Starr county. 

V. On November 80th 1873, Henry Grey, a son of E. N. Grey, 
of Concepcion, Duval county, was killed by a party of Indians and 
Mexicans. The same party killed in all their raid twenty-four men 
and wounded fifteen, Mexican herdsmen in Duval and Weeb counties, 
and stole between seventy-five and one hundred head of horses and 
scattered the eheep stocK of the country so that the owners suffered 
great kss. G. W. (Sank, recently killed in the Corpus Christi raid 
by another party of Mexicans, was wounded by this party. Don 
Hypolito Mendiola was killed at his rarch near Laredo. This party 
was pursued by Capt. Refugio Benavides, of Webb county, and one 
of them, an old Mexican, was wounded and captured. The rest fled 
and found refuge in Mexico, from whence they came upon this raid. 

VI. On May 5th 1874, a young man by the name of Watson, 
traveling with two companions, was tied up with his companions and 
robbed by a party of armed Mexicans about twenty-five milfis from 
Corpus Christi, Nueces county. 

VII. John Albertson, traveling from Brownsville, Texas, to 
Corpus Christi, was on the 3d of February 1874, tied up with the 
members of his family and robbed in the upper part of Cameron 
county by a party of armed Mexicans, and his wife was subjected to 
the most horribk outrage by members of this band of robbers. 

VIII. On May oth 1874, a Frenchman named Martinet was tied 
and robbed of about $1800 by a party of armed Mexicans between 
the Olmito and Lampasitos ranches, about seventy-fixe miles south- 
west of Corpus Christi. 

IX. On May 9th 1874, a party of twenty-five to thirty armed 
Mexicans appeared at the ranch of PeSescal near the line of Nueces 
and Cameron counties, and not very far distant from the scene of the 
precedln^^ case. No. VITI, where they attacked the people, brutally 
uiurdsriug John h\ Maa'Lon, Mi».lia,?i MoiLon, P, F. M. Coakley and 
Herman Tilguer, and robbed their store cf its contents. One of these 
raiders vi&s afterwards caught, tried and hung at Corpus Christi. 
From his confession, several parties became known, and it was estab- 
lished that they v/ere all Mexicans from Mexico. 

X. On the 7th of June 1874, a party of five armed Mexicans 
attacked the house of Mr, Thadeus Swift, of Refugio county, and 
brutally murdered Mr. Swift and bis wife, both of them being cut to 
pieces and horribly mutilated with knives, the object being robbery. 
For the terrible details of this tragedy, we refer to the annexed affi- 
davit of Mr. F. M. Swift. Three of the assassins were hunted down 
and hung by the outraged neighbors. Two of them escaped to 
Mexico. One of these is Juan Juares or Juan Flores, as he called 
himself. This man had claimed to b3 an American citizen and had 
registered himself as a voter. He was arrested in Guerrero, Mexico, 
and & demand made for his extradition under our treaty with Mexico. 
He confessed his guilt with cold assurance, but claimed to be a 

B 



10 , 

Mexican citizen and not subject to rendition. His case ^vas trans- 
ferred to tbe Mexicfln Federal Court at Matarcoros, vvhere, upon his 
examination, be again confessed ins guilt. We refer to the copy of 
his confession, herewith attached, taken from the record of his case. 
He has been finally delivered to our authorities, not in accordance 
with the treaty, but upon the payment of a large reward (or bribe) 
paid in money by the relatives and friends of the murdered Swift 
family. 

XI. On August 2d 1874, an attempt was made by a parly of ma- 
rauders to murder Mr. Koach, living about thirty-five miles fitom San 
Diego, in Duval county, and to rob his store, but, being prepared for 
the danger, he made a successful defense. 

XII. On November 3d 1874, the store of Mr. Geo E. Blaine at 
the Los Olmos ranch, near the line of Nueces and Hidalgo countiee, 
wa-s robbed by a large party of armed Mexicans, the loss being $500 
to $600 in money and about two thousand five hundred dollars in 
goods. No lives were lost on this occasion, Blaine making no resist- 
ance to the robbery. The thieves bad declared their intention to kill 
Blaine, and he was only spared by the timely arrival of a party of 
twelve Americans who happened to be encamped in the vicinity, and 
who rushed to the rescue in time to save Blaine's life, they having 
been advised by a courier of what was transpiring. 

THE CORPUS CHRISTI EAID. 
• XIII. The .success that had attended the robberies of stores in the 
scattered out- settlements emboldened the robbers to make a more daring 
attempt and a more general pillage, and on the 28th of March, 1875, began 
what is generally called "the Corpus Chri-sti raid," from the fact that it was 
supposed that an attemjit Avould be made by the raiders to sack Corpus 
Christi. We present the following brief account of the raid, taken from 
the Valley Times : ^ 

"Fromal] the information we can glean from those wiio were preseutand 
ey^-witne.^^ses of tbe recent Mexicau raid, we give the following: 

From Mr. Dotldntige \vc learn tl.at ruiaor.s of tK'e srarheiing of a I ?rty 
were conveyed lo him about a week ago, but iiothing was thought of it 
more than that of any other idle assemblage. 

Their first overt act appears'.to have been the demand made upon Camp- 
bell, near Tule lake, for horses, as narrated yesterday. 

Procuring a few animals, v/bich were ridden by the captors without sad- 
dles or bridles, the crowd went to Page's, 9 miles from Corpus. Here they 
made a clean sweep of everything valuable. Two ladies in the house be- 
took themselves to the chaparral, while Mr. Page was carried off. 

The next place visited was Frank's store, at, the Juan Sais Ranch. There 
were eighteen or twenty of them here. Three or four presenting pistols at 
Frank's head, demanded all his valuables. Of coarse no resistance A'as 
made, Frank yielding them everything. Overhauling his stock, they took 
everything they wanted, exchanged their old. clothes for new, and even 
stripped Frank to his underclothing. 

They stopped at this store for some time, supplying themselves with 
horses, saddles, etc., from the travellers passing either way. x\s soon as a 
vehicle or horseman would arrive, he was immediately surroixnded, a 
score of pistols and guns levelled, aad the demand for surrender made. — 
In this manner was Mrs. Sidburj, Mrs. Savage, Miss Laura Allen, Messrs. 
H. A. Gilpin, Jos. Saunders, S. G. Borden, George Reynolds, Joe Hov/ell, 
with Mr. W. W. Wright's team and wagon, the driver of Gilpin's team, 
W. A. Ball, Mr. Reynold's little daughter, Frank, Page and son, and a 



V 



^ 



11 

number of Mexican women and children captured, and all their valuables 
apyropriiited, some of the ladies having part of their clothing taken from 
them. The miscreants attempted to disi-obe Mr. Reynolds, but one of their 
number interfered and prevented it by the threat o'J a pistol. 

It was at Frank's the, 'rst killing was done. One of the robbers asked 
a Mexican to join the party in their raid. He refused, when a pistol was 
placed to his headj^the tri^rger pulled and his soul sent to eternity. It was 
a terrible cold-blooded deed. 

After leaving Frank's, t!ie Mexicans, driving their prisoners before them 
like sheep, sta.rted for the Motts. Their lirst effort there was wgainst the 
store of Mr. Thomas NoaKes, which they found closed. 

Opening the door the first man who presented himself was shot twice 
by Mr. N,. Immeaiately afterwards a man named Smith, iu the store at the 
time, rushed out the front door, was met by the party, and shot down, 
mortally wounded. Aggravated, it is supposed, by the uue^iiected resis- 
tance, the store was tired, Noakes took retuge linder the couurer, and 
afterwards got out of the building and into a place of safetv. The des- 
truction of his property was so complete that the calves fn the pen were 
roasted. His loss is at least $10,000. 

At the Motts the women prisoners were liberated and allowed to go to 
their homes. After staying hert* an hour, the party started off towards 
Pefiitas. In the neighborhood of Mr. Hunter's house they were brought 
to a stop by Pat Wholan and his party of t^^n, who charged the devils at 
once. Keceived by a volley, in which poor Swanks lost his life, he being 
shot through the .stomach— it was returned with vigor. Thirly-tive to ten 
were heavy odds to ftght, and after exhausting his ammunition fruitlessly, 
Whelan was obliged to give up the contest and return to the Motts for am- 
munition and reinforcements. Receiving these pui'suit was resumed al- 
most immediately. 

The Mexicans had with them two wagons, piled with plund er, which 
were on ahead under an escort. One of them belonged to Reynolds. 
• The following, to a great extent, identifying the party, wa« received here 
by a lady 3'esterday, from Piedras Pintaa, and is reliablfi : 

. " Alberto Garza parsed througii Piedras Piatas March 25ih. lie shot one 
of Silverio Salinas' vaqueros three times, because he would not give him 
his horsf). He was thought to have twenty -five men with him, aud on his 
way to San Diego. " 

Friday night Mr, Lee Riggs, R. W. Archer and two others, coming from 
"L^vgartaville, were shot at near a creek. Camping six miles this side of 
the place, aud about fifteen miles above Nuecestown, about 3 o'clock iu 
the morning, a party of between twenty and thirty armed Mexicans 
passed them. Bat for being couce'aled in a little hollow, suggested by tha 
attempt spoken of, they would have undoubtedly lost their lives. 

The raiders, having sacked the country io the neighborhood of Cor- 
pus Christi, turned their course toward the Rio Oraude. On the 
night of April 2d they surrounded the towa of Roma ia Starr County 
on the Rio Grande, aud were prepared to sack that town and rob the 
Custom-house, a Deputy Collector of custom's being located there, but 
were prevented from doing so by the pre3enc8 of a company of United 
States troops stationed at the place. They then withdrevy from before 
the place and crossed the river into Mexico ii^ the immodiate vicinity. 
Th'jse facts are shown by the Depiity Collector of customs herewith 
attached. • ' 

This raid having attracted universal attention on this frontio' 
Mexican authorities of Mier and Catnargo, in which jurlsdicti 
raiders crossed into Mexico, took action in the ease aTid arrestee 
of the raiders. These prisoners were started for Matatnoras, an 
Judge of the district cjurt of this district was notified of the fac 



t 

12 

the United States consul at Matamoras and advised to be prepared by 
the time of the arrival of the prisoners at Matamoras. Judge Dough- 
erty immediately telegraphed to Corpus Christi to procure witnesses 
to identify the criminals, and was answered that plenty of wituessea 
would be ready to attend at Mataraoros. But*, while the prisoners 
were en route to Matamoras, an order was i-eceived from General Ea- 
cobedo from San Lais, Mexico, that the prisoners should be seat to 
Monterey, about two hundred miles into the interior, and not to Mat- 
amoras. For the particulars of these tacts we refer to the letters of 
the United States Consul to Judge Dougherty, herewith attached. 

It is claimed that this order of Escobedo was issued in good faith 
iu order to keep the prisoners from being subject on their arrival at 
Matamoros to the influence of Cortina, aud to keep them beyond his 
protection. But it appears to us that this is a flimsy pretext to send 
them where there would be no possibility of their being confronted 
with the necessary testimony to convict. The allegation, however, 
although it may prove the punic faith of the Mexican authorities, 
also proves the character of Cortina with his own government. 

During this raid Miss Lizzie Joy arrived at Corpus Christi from 
Laredo, and made affidavit that she had left Laredo on the 20th, and 
on the 26th saw the dead bodies of two Americans near the roadside 
hacked to pieces with knives, and their horses hitched near and in a 
famishing condition. Miss Joy was traveling with a train of carts, 
and the cartmen buried the dead bodies. The next day two other 
bodies were discovered hanging near the roadside ; these latter bodies 
were Mexicans. As there was no other party out except the Mexi- 
can raiders upon Corpus Christi, these four additional deaths to those 
already recounted are attributable to them. We annex the published 
account and the affidavit of Miss Joy in this case. 

XIV. On the 16th day of March 1874, Vidal la Haille, a French- 
man traveling from Corpus Christi to this place was killed and robbed 
by Ricardo Flores aud a party of armed Mexicans in this county near 
Olmos, the line between this and Nueces County. Flores is a regis- 
tered voter of this county. He was arrested, and, upon investigation 
before a magistrate, was committed to jail to answer for the murder be- 
fore the district court ; but broke jail aud fled to Mexico. He is now 
in Matamoras, Mexico, where he has been since his escape. A requi- 
sition has been made under the treaty with Mexico for his rendition, 
but without success, Flores being under the all-powerful protection of 
General Cortina. ^ 

XV. On the 27th day of February 1875, a party of armed Mex- 
cans, seven in number, crossed the Rio Grande from near Reynosa, 
"^lexico, and went to El Sauz in Hidalgo county, where there is a 

^office, and they entered the store of Mr. J. L. Fulton, the Poat- 
ster, when they made an assault upon him and his clerk, Mauri- 
.0 Villanueva, a youag Spaniard, in which both these parties were 
billed. The object was to plunder the store of Fulton, but the neigh- 
bors having become alarmed by the shots, assembled and sent to Ed- 



13 

inburgh, about seven miles distant, for assistance, which, the robbers 
perceiving, they fled across the R'u Grande without accomplishing 
their purpcse of robbery. Mr. Fulton was an officer of the 36th reg- 
iment of United States colored troops, and had settled here after the 
close of the war. He was an industrious, law-abiding, peaceable, and 
useful citizen. 

XVI. On the 23d day of March 1875, Alexander Morel, a citizea 
of Hidalgo county was killed by a party of Mexican cattle thieves 
from Reyuosa Vieja, in Mexico, who had crossed the river to ply their 
vocation. The details of his death are given in the annexed letter 
of his brother, Victor Morel. The body of the deceased was not found 
until the thieves sent xvord to his brother, Victor, where he ivould find it 

XVil. On th i 16lh day of April 1875, George Hill, a resident of 
Tio Cano ranc' in Cameron county, was killed by a party of Mexi- 
0?.^ . cattle thie s who had crossed the Rio Grande to pursue their 

/arious traffi Hill oas out hurting stock, and came upon the 
irty unexpect Uy, and was evidently killed to prevent discovery. 
Jhe evening aftei- his death the thieves crossed their plunder to Mex- 
ico, near Santa Maria which fact came to the knowledge of and was 
reported by the customs Inspectors stationed at Santa Maria. Mr. 
Hill was a hard laboring farmer and stock raiser, who had settled 
here after the close of the war, in which he served as a member of 
the 4th Wisconsin Cavalry, and he has left a large and helpless 
family of small children thus robbed and deprived of the protection 
of their father. 

XVIII. On the 19th of April 1875, a party of twelve armed 
Mexicans crossed the Rio Grande from Guerrero, Mexico, and ap- 
peared at Carrizo, Zapata county, where there is a Postofiice and 
where a Deputy Collector of Custonis and two mounted Inspectors 
are stationed. The raiders entered the store of Dr. D. D. Lovell and 
murdered him in cold blood. They then robbed his store of several 
thousand dollars in money and goods. They then proceeded to the 
office of the Deputy Coller r of customs, robbed the place of all the 
property in the office ex A the money, which was in a large iron 
safe which they could '- break open, but broke off the knobs, leav- 
ing it useless. The P juty Collector was absent and the Inspectors 
fled, being two only r^ainst the twelve robbers. Dr. Lovell was the 
Postmaster at Carrizo, and the Postoffice as well as the store was 
gutted of its contents. Dr. Lovell was an intelligent and enterpris- 
ing citizen who had built up a considerable trade at Carrizo, where 
he had settled at the close of our late war, in which he had served 
honorably as a volunteer in the 4th Wisconsin Cavalry, which regi- 
ment, within two days, lost two of its members, Dr. Lovell and Geo. 
Hill. These deaths occurring at distant points from each other but 
at nearly the same period of time prove the thorough organizatiori 
and understanding between the Mexican thieves scattered all along 
the Mexicaa border of the Rio Grande. The Sheriff of Zapata 



14 /. 

coimty, writing to Judge Ware, states the loss of Dr. Lovell at $40t)0, 
and that he lost ^1000 taxes collected, that was on deposit with Dr. 
Lovell. 

XIX. On the let day of December 1874, a large party of Mexi- 
can cattle thieves eucamped near the ranch of Carlos Dauache, of 
Cameron county, about fourteen miles from Brownsville, and they sent 
word to Mr. Danache, who had been active in the pursuit of these 
Caballeros, that they were encamped near his place and would be 
pleased to see him, Mr. Danache gathered a parly of friends and 
went to their camp next morning, but found it abandoned. And at 
their camp he found a Mexican' hung and the dead body so badly 
mutilated that it could not be ideotiSed, but supposed to be some 
honest man who had made himself obnoxious, like Danache, to the 
thieves. We refer to the afSidavit of Mr. Dauache in this case, here- 
with annexed. 

XX. On the ISth day of January 1875, Albert Dean and Joseph 
Dunn, mounted luspeetors of customs stationed at Kio Grande City, 
Starr county, were attaclied by a party of five Mexicans, armed with 
Winchester carbines, who liad just crossed from Mexico, and whose 
outfit was undergoing examination by the Inspectors, and, their out- 
fit, consisting of raw hide ropes and other paraphernalia of the cat- 
tle thief, indicated the object of their visit. This was about two 
leages below Kio Grande City. 

In the same neighborhood, G. W. Lowe, another mounted Inspector 
of customs, accompanied by Joseph Dunn, was ambushed and fired 
upon from the Chaparral .an the 22d day of April 1S75, the ball 
cutting through his clothing across the breast, which indicated the 
intention of the assassin. For particulars in these cases we submit 
copies of the ofiiciai repoii'ts in relation thereto. 

XXI. On the 26th day of January 1875, a fight occurred between 
a party of U. S, soldiers and a party of Mexicans at the Raucho 
Solises in Starr couiity, about eighteen miles below Rio Grande City 
in which two soldiers and one Mexican were killed and two other 
Mexicans were wounded. Many versions of this affair have been 
published, and it has been the subject of judicial investigation before 
the Grand .Jury of Starr county. Your committee confesses its ina- 
bility, in the conflicting evidence, to arrive a!; a correct conclusion. 
We therefore present several of these published accounts, together 
with the ofEciai report of Gensral Hatch, and annex them to our re- 
port. The newapaper articles in regard to this affair prove that there 
is no uojusL prejudice against Mexican-i oa this frontier^nor any un- 
due partiality in favor of the U. S. troops, which latter might be ex- 
pected from the fact that these troops do give much protection to our 
frontier. 

From the foregoing account of outrages, extending through the 
last two years, it will be perceived/ that the raids of the Mexican 
bandits upon this frontier have not been confined to cattle stealing 
alone, but have taken a wider range and resulted in the robbery of 



15 

/ 

the Dnercantile establishments, Postoffices and Custom Houses scatter- 
ed over the country and beyond the protecting guns of the garrisoned 
towns, and in the systematic murder of isolated Americans engaged 
in this region in business either as merchants, farmers or stock raisers ; 
and that the liat for " exterminating their tyrants," isKued in 1859, is 
being carried out to its bloody consummation. As before stated, we 
baye not recounted many murders traceable to the same hands, but 
have confined our relation to those acts proving organization and a 
comniou purpose, 

* CATTLE STEALING. 

Your Committee have not endeavored to enumerate the cases" of 
cattle stealing that have occured during the same period of time, for 
this crime has been continuous and of daily occurrence. The proofs 
of this crime contained in the Report of the Jb'rontier Commission to 
the Secretary of State have fully sho^ the nature and extent of 
this traffic, and we merely refer to the facts incidentally connected 
with the foregoing account of outrages committed since the Report of 
the Commissioners was made, to show that there has been no abate- 
ment or cee&ation of this traffic; — When United States Custoiii- 
houses and Postoffices are robbed by armed bauds of Mexican bandits 
in open day with impunity, and when murder and arson are getting 
to be ordinary occurrences on the part of these marauders, the loss of 
our herds ana stock sinks into minor importance. The higher ques- 
tion is presented whether the Americans upon this frontier are to be 
exterminated or driven from the country. 

CHARGES AGAINST EX-CONFEDERATRS. 

Bat it is charged by Seilor Mariscal, the Mexican Minister at Wash- 
ington, according to the telegraphic reports of his correspondence, 
that these crimes have been committed by ex-confederate soldiers, 
disguised as Indians and Mexicans, and rendered uesj^eraie by the 
loss of their slave property. This charge is an absurdity on its face, 
into which Sefior Mariscal could not have been led had he taken the 
trouble to consult the United States Census of 1860. According to 
this census there were only two hundred and forty-nine slaves west 
of the Nueces, including this whole section up to New Mexico, a re- 
gion of country exceeding the State of Pennsylvania in extent. There 
are only eight Americans in Cameron county, by actual count, who 
were ex-confederate soldiers. There was a batalliou of soldiers of 
Mexican origin, organized in Webb and Bexar counties by Colonel 
Santos Benavides, in the confederate service, but there have been fev\r 
complaints in W^ebb county ; and with the exception of this batallioD, 
there are not probably fifty men west of the Nueces river who were in 
the confederate service, the stock men having been generally exempt- 
ed from military service on account of the necessity for their care of 
this source of supply to the confederate armies. It is true that these 
stock-raisers were generally confederates in feeling, but they own much 



16 JJ: 

stock, and we canuot compass the reasoning that would induce them 
to disguise themselves to prey upon their own herds. Among the 
many arrests of cattle thieves that have been made since the confed- 
erate war, either in Texas or Mexico, there never has been the arrest 
of a single ex-confederate soldier, nor has one been implicated in 
such crime by any evidence, confession, or other particle of proof. 
Until at least one guilty peison of this ©lass can be named, we feel 
justified in declaring that the charge is made in malice and for a pur- 
pose — to make a case by appealing lo the supposed prejudices of the 
Northern people rather than tro the stubborn facta. 

The Beuor Mariscal has written a letter to the Mexican Consul at 
Brownsville denying that he over made a charge against ex-eonlede- 
rate soldiers of invading Mexican territory, an artful dodge, — still 
the Mexican journals continue to make the assertion as published ia 
the Washington telegrams, and make it upon the authority of Sefior 
Mariscal (See annexed copy cyf " El Heraldo del B/avo," of June 
5th, 1375,) hence we have thought it necessary to notice the charge 
notwithstanding the denial, which appears to receive no credence from 
the Seiior Mariscal's own countrymen and friends. 

Vv'KONGS PERPETRATED AGAIKST MEXICANS. 

It is often alleged that Mexicans resident in Texas suffer great 
wrongs at the bauds of Americans, and that Ihey receive no protec- 
tion in their persons and proporty in our courts. Your committee 
do not pretend to assert that such wrongs have not been committed 
against Mexicans by Americans in their individual capacity, but we 
do most earnestly denjUhat there has existed or that there could exist 
in this section of the State of Texas any combination or organization 
of citizens for such a purpose, but, on the contrary we maintain a 
well known truth when we say that the courts, Federal and State, 
are alwayn open and ready to redress such private and individual 
wroL'gs. The p*i)ulatiou belv/eei: ihe Kio Grande ar.d the Kueoes, 
according to the census of 1870, is twenty seven tliousand, of which 
at leazt nine-tenths are of Mexican origin, and the voting population 
holds uearh' the same ratio. The right of suffrage and the selfish- 
ness of politicians has prevented and will continue to prevent any 
such injustice as organized hostility to a community that controls the 
polls and elects ail our oiiicers. A lean minority can never so op« 
press a preponderating majority, and the absurdity of the allegation 
is proven by the bare presentation of the statistics. At & recent term 
of the District Court of this T^unty, three parties, one ^n American 
and the others citizens of M^ xican origfn, were indicted for the al 
leged crime of hanging three men (Mexicans and alleged cattle 
thieves,) but they were acquitted for want oF any proof to convict. 
And at the last term of the District Court of Starr county, several 
officers of the United States army were indicted for alleged outrages 
in the Solises affair, to which we have heretofore alluded, which fadts 
prove our assertion that redress for wrongs towards Mexicans can be 



sought in our courts, without regarii to the social position or the in- 
flueuce of those who may be charged with the commission of such 
wrongs. 

INVASIONS OF MEXICO. 

And it is equally impossible for Americans of this section of the 
State to organize themselves into predatory bands for the purpose of 
iuyading or raiding upon cur neighboring Kepublic. The existence 
of such organizations would be immediately communicated to those 
menaced by such bands through their relatives and friends among our 
residents and citizens of Mexican origin. And besides, in Mexico 
they have a most admirable system of Rural Police, the want of which 
in this State is one of the causes of the success of the invading ban- 
dits in their raids upon our stock rauches. In Mexico the people are 
gregarious and live in villages or ranchos, and it is a very rare thing 
to fiud an isolated dwelling or household. In each of these ranches 
an officer is appoiuted, called an Encargado, or Superintendent, who 
has the authority of a Justice of the Peace, and whose duty it is to 
give information to the officers of the Municipality, Parish or County 
(to use our own similar subdivisions,) to furnish horses to couriers, to 
make arrests, to call out the rural police, and to exercise a general 
supervision over their ranches. Nc predatory band, however small 
or however nuuurcius, cCuld penetrate Mexico from this side the Rio 
Grande without all its movemeiUs and designs being known i^nd 
promptly reported, a?; the banks of the Rio Grande are lined with 
rauches from its mouth up ;o Laredo on both sides. The speedy ar- 
rest, trial and punishment of any predatory band would be as certain ' 
and as i)rompi as the decrees of fate. Upon the subject of the or- ^. % 

ganizatiou of the Rural Police of Mex'co we preisent the most incon- j 

testible and indisputable proof in a sworn statenjent of its organization / 

and powers, and the iinpossibilitj cf evading its vigilance, made by 
the present First Alcalde of Matamoros, Sefior Castillo Montero, a 
copy of which is hereto attached, the original being on file in the ar- 
chives of the Mixed Commission at Washington in the case of King, 
Kenedy & Co., before the Commiseiou. There is another and com- 
plete refutation of any charge that Americans are guilty of raiding 
upon Mexioiu soil, existing in the fact that not a single American has 
ever been captured in any such expedition, wnich, as we have shown 
by the description of the rural police of Mexico, would have been an 
inevitable consequence of any such criminal attempt. 

RENDITION OP STOLEN PROPERTY. 

We have already shown Ihe justice of the legislation of Texas to- 
wards Mexicans, resideaats and non-residents, in securing to them the 
titles to their lands, and this spirit is still further shown by the laws 
of the State enacting that the possession of property stolen in a fo- 
reign countr}^ is a continuation of the felony and providing for the 
punishment of the felons [Pasohal's Annotated Digest, Articles, 2438, 
2439. & 2463, 1 This act is enforced in our courts. It would make 



18 

this report too rolumiDOUs to cite the records; and we present, case 
No. 308 in the Justices Precinct No. 2, Cameron c^.uinty, as p. painplo 
of many others. In this case Leoni'Jas Guemi, of Matamoroe, Mt'X* 
ico, made an affidavit before the Justice as to Ihe loss of certain sni- 
luals, upon which a search warrant was issued, which wtinasit was 
endorsed by Hon. W. H. Russell, District Judge, in order to secure 
its execution in any county where ihe property might be f''Uod, and 
the following is the return on the procesd : •' Came to I'.flud May 22d, 
1872, and executed same day by delivering to Leoaidaf Guerra o7 
head of stolen P^omrt^. Rosweli H. GiUette, Spe;-i!i! Biiiii:'-', Bee 
county ;" to which^'Mr/Guerra had pursued his properly, anti wiiere. 
it was restored to him. The records of tiie Unileti Btat.e'^ Cusfoiy 
House of this Port CBrowusville,) prove (bat the Federal oiiiciaic; t^-o 
equally pronript to do justice by the delivery oi stoltn properly ■svhen 
the proper claims and proofs are presented b^ Mexican clain anw. 
[See annexed certificate of the f'ollector of Cu.stoms ')*■' the Port.] 
These oflicial documents prove another very impoitaut fact tearing 
upon this discussion. They show that, in nearly every iosiance, the 
stolen property was found in the hands of Mexican?, there being but 
one case in which it was traced to (he hands of nn Auiericiin, aud, 
iji this case, the psrty showed beyond question that he htid purcJ-'a«fd 
the stolen horse from a Mexican. The evidence is cumulative and 
we might say conclusive that Americans are not engagetJ in thif u«- 
farious traffic, but that Mexicans alone have been proven to be guilty. 
This clas« of thievs steal from both sides of the river with rigid iiu- 
partiality. 

The Courts of Mexico are practically closed in this respect to oiif 
citizens, although Mexico baa the same laws in regard to the cooLiua- 
tion of a felony "that exist on our own atatute books. Their laws are 
good, but we assert, upon the unvaried fate of all attempts to reclaim 
stolen property in that country, that the laws are not only not exe- 
cuted, but that they are intentionally and habitually violated and 
disregarded. This question, however, was fully investigated by the 
United States Commissioners to Texas and reported upon by them. 
(See Report pp. 6 & 7,) and we do not, therefore, consider it necessa- 
ry to enter upon the details of the many cases that might be cited, as 
such a course would only be cumulative upon a subject sufficitntly 
investigated ofiicially by our Commissioners to Texag, upon whoso 
Report and the accompanying evidence, we rely for the correctuess 
of our statement of the facts. 

POPULATION BETWEEN THE NUECES AND RIO GRANDE, 

As heretofore stated, the great mass of the population between 
the Nueces and the Rio Grande is composed of people of JMexican 
origiHi, the proportion of this class to all others being quite nine to 
one, or nine-tenths of the whole number of inhabitants. According 
to the census of 1870, pages^321-322, sixteen thousand four hundred 
?ind Beventj-eight of the twenty-^^even thousand enumerated are fo- 



« 



10 

ign boro, ail (^f ihetu escepl say the odd luiiKirede being of Mexi- 
can birth ; eighteen thousand three hundred and ninety-eight are 
^^hildren of parents, both of wiom are of foreign ])irth ; over nine- 
teen thousand are children of a foreign father, and over nine thous- 
and of a foveitrn mother. The white or American inhabitants cer- 
tainly do not exceed three thousand iu number in all this rej^ion. 

This fact is one of the causes of our troubles. The Spanish is the 
u.'5ual language of this frontier, lew or no schools exist outside of our 
towns and but a limited number even in the towns, and our few 
American people learn the language usually spoken, whilst the mass 
of our population speak their mother tongue, very few of tiiern learn- 
ing to Bpeak or use English, The result is that this people generally 
have retained their ancient manners, customs and traditions, and con- 
tinue their intercouse with the people from whom they sprang, with 
whom their relations are more intimate than with the people of this 
State to whom they have became territorially and politically attached. 
The natural prejudices of race and class that exist among all peoples 
of different nationalities add to the complications of such a condition 
of affairs, ard prevent to a cer^ain extent the proper and prompt exe- 
cution of the laws, which, from the great extent of our counties and 
the sparsenesB of our population outside of the line of river ranches, 
could not be enforced with vigor even under more favorable circum- 
stances. It is a general and notorious complaint on the part of our 
ofHcers of justice that our population of Mexican orig#n are not 
prompt to give information against raiders and cattle thieves, and 
that they are reluctant to testify in the courts against them, and, that 
Avherj questioned on the subject, they too often reply with their ex- 
prestiva shiug of the shoulders and the inevitable (flien sabc with 
which the}' avoid direct testimony. 

Ii: justice to our preponderating population of Mexican origin we 
cheerfully h<ar testimony that the great in(ij'.irity of them are honeat, 
.;iduNlrJou-i iv>(\ laborious [.uoplo, m.d ihej' own a greater j)art of the 
«5oii iu this g-^/jtion of the State, upon which they graze thousands u{)on 
ihoasands of head of stock, — cattle, horses, iiiules and sheep, and 
Ihej suffer very greatly from the o{)eration^ of the cattle thieves. 'I'o 
u btianger u» (uir frontiar, thfir faiinri} lo pi'ooecutc the cattle thieves 
!iiid to testify willingly against tlieia would appsar very extraordinaiy, 
bat not so to siy one acquainted with the actual condition of affairs. 
These people were educated amid the chronic revolulious of their 
aiotiier cuaaUy, 'Viiere they learned the lenson of subini;«»ioii to the 
h'-.vv of fcrc'', and, for the rea.^ons already given, they have never be- 
ec lat* gulii iii-nt'v familiarized with our difftirtnt system of govcrn- 
)rj:-']t to throw off' their dread of armed force, hence the armed b.andits 
who lippi'iidti l>^) upon them as well as their Aruericau born neighb(^r!« 
are.re^?ird<*!i with such terror ttjat uur Mexican born rancheroH are 
scli'jily aiVaid to perform tlieir duties as good citizens by exposing 
and puiiithmg them; nor is thii fear c:)nfiaed to this class of our 
popuiafciou, but extends very generally amongst our stock raisers, 



20 

American as well as Mexican boru, all being more or less subject to 
the reign of terror brought about by the force of arma and the fear 
of assassination. 

There is another fact which adds greatly to the difficulties of deal- 
ing with the cattle thieves. Many of them have located on this side 
of the Rio Grande, squatting upon any public domain they may find 
vacant, and even upon private lauds, wliere they build a temporary 
shelter of sticks and mud (jaeales,) hardly sufficient to protect them 
from the rain and the sunsnine, and are by their locality the better 
able to give aid and information to their confederates in crime on the 
other side of the Rio Grande. There is a considerable number of 
theae squatters hid away among the live-oaks, called the Encinal, 
about midway between the JNuecea and Rio Grande, this Encinal 
region beinii a sandy ridge where water is easily obtainable, and 
where the squatters are protected by the Encinos or live oaks from 
which it obtains its name. After the recent Corpus Christi raid, 
some Americans of Nueces county banded together to avenge the 
wrongs of their neighbors, and it was against these squatters that they 
directed their vengeance, the land owning Mexicans and known ran- 
, cheros having been left undisturbed at their ranches. 

There is also another and a serious evil with which we are afflicted. 
By the provisions of our State Constitution every male person who 
shall have declared his intention to become a citizen of the United 
States and who shall have resided in the State one year is entitled to 
register as a voter. Many of the squatters heretofore described make 
this declaration of intention in order to make entry of land as a settler 
and to register as voters, whereby they manage to secure a certain 
degree of impunity by placing theQisolees under the protection of 
politicians, who are called upon to defend them in the courts, bj; 
which service the aid of these characters are secured in our elections. 
This evil is a very grave one, for the Mexicans v/ho make these dec- 
larations of intention to become citizens are very generally of that 
class who spell their middle names with an X, and very few of them 
have, as yet, gone beyond taking this primary oath, and, the invaria- 
ble rule with them, when they commit a crime, is to fly to Mexico 
and claim exemption from the provisions of the treaty of extradition 
on the ground that they are not citizens of the United States but are 
Mexicans. Advantage has been taken of these notorious facts by the 
authorities of Mexico to charge that the cattle thieves are American 
citizens, whereas, the truth i.«, that they are not citizens of this coun- 
try and never likely to become .«uch, but nomads living on one or the 
other bank of the Rio Grande, having no fixed residence, but chang- 
ing their locality as may become necessary to ply successfully their 
vocations, and Mexicans in all things and always. 

The abuses to which this interpolated provision of our constitutio;i 
(for it is not in the article fixing the right of suffi-age) is subject is 
well illustrated in the case of a Mexican of intelligence and of a 
higher class than the crossmark patriots under review. Mr. Castillo 



( 



21 



(tfontero, the present First Alcalae of the heroic, lojal and uucou- 
■ quered City of Matamoros under the Ayuntairaento of which General 
/Cortina is President, got up a little revolutioo sotne years ago at 
Tuspan, near Tanipico, in which he shot one of his neighbors, who 
was the Alcalde of Tuspan, the scene of the revolution, but the revo- 
lutionary attempt came to grief and Moutero fled to this city for 
safety. The people of Tarapico and Tuspan stupidly regarded tho 
revolutionary executiou of the Alcalde as murder, and Montero was 
regularly indicted for that crime, under which a demand for his ren- 
dition under our extradition treaty was being prepared, which Mon- 
tero avoided by declaring his intention to become a citizen of the 
United States in the U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of 
Texas. Afterwards, through the influence and under the protection 
of Cortina, he returned to Matamoros and is now the First Alcalde 
of that city notwithstanding the indictment pending against him, 
A lawyer of that city (Mr. Valdes) recently published the facts of 
this case to prove that Montero was not eligible to the office he held, 
having abjured his allegiance to Mexico and sworn allegiance to the 
United States, when Montero acknowledged that the oath of inten- 
tion was sinfply taken to avoid arrest and not with any intention of 
renouncing hia allegiance to Mexico or of becoming a citizen of the 
United States, thus confessing his fraudulent intent. Mr, Valdes was 
sued by Montero for libel, tried before an associate Alcalde, fined 
two thousand dollars, and convicted and sentenced to tv/o years im- 
prisonment for his publication. This case is cited to show the abuses 
to which our liberal naturalization laws are subject on this frontier 
by Mexicana who may wish Lo profit by a quasi citizeiiship of this 
country ; and at the same time it is an illustration of the beauties of 
Mexican justice as administered under the regime of General Cortina. 

RETALIATIONS. 

As we have stated above, the recent raid of Mexican banditti near 
Corpus Chriati brought about a retaliatory raid on the part of a few 
unthinking Americans living near the Nueces river. These men 
came down to the Encinal country among the squatter Mexicans and 
found them, it is said, with stolen hides buried in their yards or 
concealed about their premises, when they burned djwu the jacales 
and killed some three men according to the best information we can 
gather. There is no defense for such lawless acts. The guilty parties 
should have been arrested, not murdered, and turned over to the pro- 
per authorities for trial and legal punishment. But this American 
raid wasijoon squelched by Capt. McNelly, of the State troops, who 
opportunely arrived and published an order disbanding all unauthor- 
ized orijauizations, which order was promptly obeyed as it was well 
known that it would be duly enforced. We fear that such illegal and 
retaliatory organizations will add to our troubles, and it is to prevent 
them, as well as to prevent raids of armed bandits from Mexico, that 
we earnestly call the attention of the Government to the condition of 



22 1 

) ... 

this frontier. Qnleaa the Goveruuaent givea the people protection,) 
tliey will be compelled to protect thfimselvss or to ahandoa the coiin- 
try. To show the extent of the danger aud the alarm of our p«o{)le 
we refer to the annexed propoaition, headed " To the Resct^e," in 
which certain citizens of Nuecea county propose to keep under 
their individual pay a Company of vohialeer.-i to protect then»?eiven 
from the cattle thieves. The amounts the^' subscribe f'^r the taonthly 
pay of such a compauy is suflicient evidence of the loar^es to which 
they have been Bubjected and of the danger witii v.hicti they are 
menaced by ihe bandits, whilst it «t the inune tim? illustrates the gen- 
eral condition of this frontier. 

COMPLICITY OV MEXICAN OFFICIALS WITH THE CATTLli) TJIILVKH. 

1. In the year 1866 or 1867, Messrs. Hale ^. Parker, stock raisers 
in Hidalgo county, lost about ninety head of beef cattle that were 
traced to Mexico and found in the poKsession of Andres Mngnerza, 
(Joliector of Customs at EeynoEa. Ange! de la Vega, agent of the 
owners, claimed the cattle and [)rovefl that they had been stolen from 
Texas and crossed into Me?cico against the will of the owner?, but 
Muguerza refused to deliver them on the ground that they b-.id been 
introduced into Mexico without a permit. A part of the beeves 
were sold by the Collector and the rest were turue(rover, as rations, 
to tlie troops stationed at that place. The action of this Mexican 
Collector and his construction of the law contrasts not very favorably 
with the course of the American Collectors towards Mexican claim- 
ants in similar cases. For evidence of the action of Collector Mu- 
guerza, we cite the affidavit of the agent, Vega, on tile in the case of 
Hale & Parker vs, Mexico, No. 548, before the Mixed Commission 
at Washington. 

2. In the year 1866, Joiui McAUen, anolhor a^cnt, of ?vle.^-i':\ Hal,' 
& Parker, went to Matamoros to reclaim !inolh( r lot of t-ttjlt^n cMl!li>, 
and, instead of accompiishiiig' hh purpo-^t', wi).6 tirreitsKl ;iud imorjMou 
ed by the Alcalde of that ciiy, and insulted in the grossest manne'-. 
For the particulars of this case ws refer to a copy or tiu; iitfi'iljivit of 
Mr. McAllen, who is one (>f our most worthy ciiiz.3us, I lie copy l)t'ing 
hereto annexed, the origiaai bHinir on file in the above citefl caae be- 
fore the Mixed Commission. 

3. In the month of July 1874, Aua^tacio Cava^os, a s'-'v^iii-Mit .citi- 
zen and stock raiser of Cameron county, h»!^t the greater portion of 
his stock, amounting to about one thousand head, which were c?t.iL-n 
by armed bauds of Mexicans and openly sold in the market of ?»Tata- 
moros. In one instance he recovered fifteen dollars for twejvft beeves 
that had been thus stolen from him and iiwrm sold, toe ;jm)a;!t, o-.^ing 
about the average price of a single beef. Whilst engage i in svcove."- 
iug this pitiful sum, th« thieves crossed over agaiii atid drove ofi 
nearly his whole licrd. For the full particulars of hi.s ca.'^e wp r<it«i 
to his affidavit herewith Hied. 

4. About the 1st of June 1875, a Spanish steamer appeared ^>ti the 



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